Contents

The Arkenstone was discovered soon after the establishment of the Dwarf-kingdom in the Lonely Mountain, and the Dwarves used all their skill to work the gem into a shimmering multi-faceted jewel. In the centuries after its discovery, the Arkenstone became an heirloom of the Kings of Durin's Folk.

Thráin's son Thorin I carried it away into the Grey Mountains where it remained for some generations, until in time King Thrór brought it back to the Great Hall of Thráin.[2] When the DragonSmaug sacked Lonely Mountain, the Arkenstone was lost to the Dwarves of Durin's Folk — it lay among Smaug's booty in the halls of Erebor.

Many years later, when Thorin led a band of Dwarves to recover their ancient realm, their companion Bilbo Baggins discovered the Arkenstone, but kept it for himself. Thorin sought for it while exploring the treasure, and swore an oath to take revenge on anyone who knowingly kept it from him, but Bilbo stayed silent nonetheless.[3] Later, when the Lake-men and the Wood-elves came to demand a share of Smaug's treasure from Thorin, Bilbo was disturbed by Thorin's unwillingness to barter. Hoping to aid negotiations, he secretly entered the camp of the Men and Elves and delivered the Arkenstone to their leaders, Bard and Thranduil. The next day a twelfth share of the treasure was demanded from Thorin for the ransom of his people's heirloom.[1]

After the Battle of Five Armies, enmity was set aside between the leaders of the Dwarves, Elves, and Men, and Bard of Dale placed the Heart of the Mountain on the breast of Thorin in Thorin's tomb. Thus, nearly a thousand years after its discovery, the Arkenstone was buried once more in the depths beneath the Lonely Mountain.

The Dwarves worked the stone into a multifaceted jewel. It shone with its own pale light, but when outer light fell upon the Arkenstone, it "...changed it into ten thousand sparks of white radiance shot with glints of the rainbow". It was a heavy gem, small enough for Bilbo Baggins to hold in one hand, yet not so small that he could close his own small hand around it.[3]

Arkenstone means roughly "precious stone", although the element *arken does not exist in modern English. Arkenstone is a modernization of an ancient word which appears in the Edda as jarknasteinn and in Old English as eorclanstán.

Note that Tolkien used the word eorclanstánas to refer to the Silmarilli in Old English texts by Eriol.[4] Some fans explore the possibility that the Arkenstone was one of the Silmarilli, specifically the one Maedhros threw in the chasm, until supposedly found by the Dwarves of Erebor.[5]

In the writing of The HobbitJ.R.R. Tolkien halted after the capture of the Dwarves by the Wood-elves and sketched out the continuation of the story in plot notes. In these notes Bilbo stole a "gem", which became a "marvelous gem", and finally the "Jem [sic] of Girion" which the king of Dale had given to the Dwarves for the arming of his son.[6] As noted by John D. Rateliff, the Gem of Girion was to be offered by the Dwarves to Bilbo as his share of the payment,[7] thus solving the problem of how to transport Bilbo's one-fourteenth share back to Bag End.

Tolkien originally had the notion that Bilbo would kill Smaug. As his story progressed Tolkien decided that this strained credibility and so he introduced Bard as the dragon slayer and made him the heir of Girion. This led to a series of re-conceptualizations since now the Lake-men and the Elves were no longer mere opportunistic scavengers; there was one within their ranks with a legitimate claim to part of the treasure. The Gem of Girion became the Arkenstone and the one part of the hoard that Thorin would insist upon keeping. The elevation of Girion's gem led to the invention of the Necklace of Girion as the payment of Girion to the Dwarves for the arming of his son.[8]

The Arkenstone is seen depicted in a mural just inside the Back Door. It is mentioned that the Quest of Erebor was to retrieve it, as possessing it would give Thorin the authority to unite all the Dwarven clans to liberate Erebor, and reclaim it from the DragonSmaug. Bilbo Baggins is shown to have found it in the treasure hoard during his conversation with Smaug, who even contemplates letting the Hobbit have it - just to see it corrupt Thorin's mind - before deciding against it.

As in the book, the Arkenstone is given by Bilbo (who, it is revealed, recovered it during his escape from Smaug) to Thranduil and Bard, in order to try to force Thorin to yield a share of the treasure. In the extended edition of the film, it was placed upon Thorin's chest following his death.